Logo
Munich Personal RePEc Archive

On the Importance of Context in Sequential Search

Hsiao, Yu Chin and Kemp, Simon and Servátka, Maroš (2019): On the Importance of Context in Sequential Search.

[thumbnail of MPRA_paper_97284.pdf]
Preview
PDF
MPRA_paper_97284.pdf

Download (928kB) | Preview

Abstract

We experimentally investigate whether framing an individual-choice decision in a market setting results in a different outcome than when the decision is described in a context-free frame. We further explore whether the context effect is triggered solely by the frame or whether a richer descriptive content is required to establish familiarity with the decision-making environment. Understanding what constitutes context is central to formulating practical recommendations aiming to improve the quality of individual decisions. Our results show that framing a sequential search problem as selling houses leads to better decisions than a context-free frame. Manipulating whether or not the framed decision-making scenario includes a description of the house, which would be naturally available in a real estate market, does not impact the length of search or the value of accepted offers.

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact us: mpra@ub.uni-muenchen.de

This repository has been built using EPrints software.

MPRA is a RePEc service hosted by Logo of the University Library LMU Munich.